My thoughts (for what it’s worth)

[Redland]

In my 55 years of supporting city I have, up until the time LJ took over, always known our preferred starting 11. I would turn up on a Saturday  and watch the same team albeit with one or two alterations due to injury, loss of form etc. Under LJ I haven’t got a clue what our preferred first team is and neither I suspect does he.

 Similarly, I have said in the past that all successful teams are built around a solid defence. You do not win anything by conceding two goals a game.  A successful manager will have a preferred style of play and will drill this into the team so that each player knows their position and their job. It becomes second nature to them and they know what their teammates will be doing.  In the case of injuries or loss of form an incoming player will slot into the system. Under LJ I do not have a clue what our preferred style of play is. He chops and changes shape and formation every week, plays players out of position and has used more players this season than any other Championship club. 

I firmly believe that the current squad on paper is one of the strongest I have ever seen in my time supporting city. I can scarcely believe that we have been able to sign the likes of Adobe, Wells, Kalas and Williams. Players of this calibre would be first on the team sheet at many championship clubs but when the season restarted against Blackburn most were not even in the team.

Although thanks to SL we have moved forward in terms of our infrastructure I believe we have massively under achieved on the pitch. To cap it all the quality of the football is dire. It is bad enough to lose but at least I’d like to be entertained.

 I am all for giving a manager a “fair crack of the whip” but after 4 1/2 years LJ has had more than this and has taken us nowhere. I have already bought my season ticket for next year but I’m really not looking forward to watching another year of this dross.  With a  city the size of Bristol, our new facilities and SL’s financial support it really is time that we were in the Premiership. LJ seems to be likeable man and certainly talks a good game but surely after over four years he cannot argue that it’s time to let someone else have a go.  After all when he took over he was telling us that we could be playing in Europe within five years. Instead, on the field, we are back where we started.

[Phileas Fogg]

I think these are good thoughts and there's lots I agree with there. 

Being a bit picky, there's loads of threads on this sort of thing. Perhaps it could've just gone in one of those.

[RobintheRed Red]

11 minutes ago, Redland said:

In my 55 years of supporting city I have, up until the time LJ took over, always known our preferred starting 11. I would turn up on a Saturday  and watch the same team albeit with one or two alterations due to injury, loss of form etc. Under LJ I haven’t got a clue what our preferred first team is and neither I suspect does he.

 Similarly, I have said in the past that all successful teams are built around a solid defence. You do not win anything by conceding two goals a game.  A successful manager will have a preferred style of play and will drill this into the team so that each player knows their position and their job. It becomes second nature to them and they know what their teammates will be doing.  In the case of injuries or loss of form an incoming player will slot into the system. Under LJ I do not have a clue what our preferred style of play is. He chops and changes shape and formation every week, plays players out of position and has used more players this season than any other Championship club. 

I firmly believe that the current squad on paper is one of the strongest I have ever seen in my time supporting city. I can scarcely believe that we have been able to sign the likes of Adobe, Wells, Kalas and Williams. Players of this calibre would be first on the team sheet at many championship clubs but when the season restarted against Blackburn most were not even in the team.

Although thanks to SL we have moved forward in terms of our infrastructure I believe we have massively under achieved on the pitch. To cap it all the quality of the football is dire. It is bad enough to lose but at least I’d like to be entertained.

 I am all for giving a manager a “fair crack of the whip” but after 4 1/2 years LJ has had more than this and has taken us nowhere. I have already bought my season ticket for next year but I’m really not looking forward to watching another year of this dross.  With a  city the size of Bristol, our new facilities and SL’s financial support it really is time that we were in the Premiership. LJ seems to be likeable man and certainly talks a good game but surely after over four years he cannot argue that it’s time to let someone else have a go.  After all when he took over he was telling us that we could be playing in Europe within five years. Instead, on the field, we are back where we started.

Very true weve sat in the boozer before the game no one would ever pick the team youd be nowhere near it just a lottery draw friday mornings .

[downendcity]

For all the moaning about our poor goalscoring, until not too long ago our number of goals was up there with most of teams around us in the table.

On the other hand , as you say, it is the other end of the pitch where our problems lie. Last season we had one of the best defensive records in the division, and it is little coincidence that, baring injury and suspension, the defensive line up was relatively unchanged.

In the early part of LJ's time in charge, he did some good things in terms of selection ( Bobby Reid) formation and playing style that reinforced his reputation as a progressive modern coach.

Unfortunately, as time as gone on I've increasingly got the feeling  that he has tried to be too clever, almost as though he wants to prove how good he is by unusual selections and tactics. This has manifested itself in the increasing chopping and changing  of personnel and formations, to the degree that we no longer have any recognised "identity". Nowhere is this more obvious than in the defensive side of our game, where the changes seem to have been the greatest and most regular.

Those tactics have backfired to the degree that the progressive thinking no smacks of desperation, with left field selections feeling like a coach clutching at straws looking for a team that works.

I agree with @Redland in that this is possibly one of the strongest squads we've had for years. It is certainly stronger than that which GJ too to the play off final, but whereas his Dad was able to make his team greater than the sum of it's parts. LJ is increasingly achieving exactly the opposite.